Lands and Resources

The Lands and Resources Department’s mandate arises from the First Nation Final and Self Government Agreements of 1993 and subsequent policy development. In 2000 the department developed a mission statement and principles for departmental operations which remain in effect.

Principles of Departmental Operation

– Conservation of natural resources for current and our children’s futures use;– Striving for sustainable development and use of natural resources (which means balancing social, economic and environmental factors in decisions about conservation and development);– Integration of Traditional Knowledge with Scientific Knowledge;– Carrying out integrated land and resources management/co-management (which means that all elements of the ecosystem: physical and biological are considered when planning and management decisions are made);– Mutually beneficial partnerships and cooperation with other governments, organizations and stakeholders;– Public, elder and youth participation, and– Fairness and timely responses to NND citizens, Council and others.

The Department is made up of four distinct units under the direction of the Lands Manager.

Cooperative Engagement Process: The following protocol has been developed specifically to enhance the relationship between industry and the First Nation of Na-Cho Nyak Dun. The ultimate goal of developing this initiative is the well being of our community. We believe that following this protocol will create an opportunity to establish a balance between community, environment and industry needs. We hope that all parties will benefit from the equity in communication, decision-making and creation of new opportunities for our growth and human development.

Guiding Principles for Mining Interests: This Best Practices Code has been prepared for mineral exploration and mining companies who are planning activities on lands within the area traditionally occupied by the First Nation of Na-Cho Nyak Dun (NNDFN). This document provides proponents with guiding principles of how NNDFN will give life to the rights and interests gained through land claim settlement with respect to the management of activities within NNDFN Traditional Territory.

For the Ongoing work on the Highway checkpoint and on various other files during the past months, in March and April 2020.

The month of March was busy wrapping up the existing program and gearing up for the new fiscal year. While the COVID-19 Pandemic happening around the world started to affect Canada, FNNND was proactive and didn’t wait for the Yukon to confirm any COVID-19 case before starting to make decisions in terms of how we approach this pandemic in the Yukon. Several letters were drafted and sent to the Yukon Premier, Ministers, Governments, Industries and NGO’s to confirm FNNND’s approach faced to this pandemic and regarding our Land Use Planning stance requesting to pause the ongoing regulatory assessments; requesting a staking moratorium while all mines go into temporary care-and-maintenance, in order to focus on re-deploying our resources to “Essential Services only.

FNNND Highway Checkpoint

FNNND coordinated the COVID-19 highway checkpoint in early April in order to help the Mayo community to monitor and share information pertaining to the Yukon’s Chief Medical Officer’s orders recently established under the Emergency Measures Act in relation to the COVID-19 Pandemic. This highway checkpoint is located at KM 44 on the Silver Trail Highway by the rest area located as we drive towards Mayo. It is intended to enable the community to do contact tracing, in the event that a case of COVID-19 would be confirmed in the area. The highway checkpoint is keeping the FNNND Lands and Resources Department busy consisting of three shifts going from 8 am to 11 pm. Flaggers and coaches were hired to ensure a continued presence at the checkpoint site and to help with the coordination of vehicles and equipment.

Ongoing work on Lands files

The FNNND Lands and Resources department continues to pick up the phone and follow up on communications with Citizens, Counterparts and other Governments and Industries. Not all of the programs were paused which contributed to the challenge as we had to redeploy employees and hire new ones in order to ensure that the highway checkpoint runs smoothly. We now have a total of 21 Lands staff members helping with the Management, Coordination and assistance of the following activities; Highway checkpoint, liaising with YG Enforcement Officers under the Emergency Measures Act, liaising with EMR on current enforcement situations related to mines, spills, traditional food harvesting, environmental assessments, liaising with and monitoring of the Alexco, Victoria Gold, the North Yukon Oil and Gas Panel, the Climate Change file, the Peel implementation files, liaising with CYFN on numerous urgent issues related to the successor legislations, discussions with staff, colleagues, counterparts and legal counsel about Land-use Planning next steps, assistance with food security preparation for the Garden and partridge Creek farm. During this time our Lands staff continues to work on numerous files requiring ongoing attention: Fish and Wildlife files, a recent fish stock assessment, additional environmental assessment files involving discussions with the Lands branch and with the water board. Research on drones, review of Yukon Energy activities pertaining to the transmission line and to Mayo Lake, review of the decision document pertaining to the Keno Hill closure planning and reclamation implementation work. The work on the project assessments and permitting continued and FNNND remain inundated with Class 1 applications along with various quartz and placer mining exploration applications and other development and amendments to existing projects. We followed the advice from legal counsel, continuing to comment on numerous project applications, with the goal to keep the momentum, while all of the First Nation Governments are working hard at coping with the COVID-19 situation. FNNND placed additional requests with the YG Government emphasizing our focus on Land Use planning for the Northern Tutchone region, which is 25 years overdue since the promises for Land Use planning were made upon the signing of the Self Government agreement in 1993.

Picture of the FNNND COVID-19 Highway checkpoint started in early April 2020.

Pictures were taken by Lands Officer Lawrence McLaren during the Spring Break Youth Cultural Camp coordinated by the Heritage Department.

Pictures of the FNNND Lands staff working at the COVID-19 Highway checkpoint started in early April 2020.

We are now resuming the work on several projects; the FNNND and VIT CBA review, the next steps needed in terms of Land Use Planning, the FNNND Lands and Resources Committee to be re-established ASAP, the work on the enforcement piece for the Lands officers, the follow up needed in terms of the FNNND legislation review and next steps based on FNNND’s needs and visions.

We are looking at finalizing some job descriptions and contracts to help FNNND to fulfill the work needed on all of the aforementioned programs and files.

If you have any questions about the Lands and Resources Department or if you wish to provide any information or comments regarding Lands and Resources Programs, please contact the Lands Manager at landsmanager@nndfn.com or call: 1 (867) 996-2265, Ext 144 and we will direct you to the proper program person.

Mussi Cho/ Thank you!

Josee Lemieux-Tremblay, Lands Manager

Downloads

This Mobile Workers Guide – Fly-in/Fly-out and Rotational Shift Work in Mining. Yukon Experiences presents a wide range of insights into a work life that is characterised by mobility, living in camps and being on scheduled times away from home. In it, experienced workers — men and women alike — from a variety of professions in the exploration and mining sector provide insight for those who are new to this industry. They share stories, experiences, strategies for coping with potential difficulties and tips for how to benefit from this traveling lifestyle. The sections of the guide introduce the readers to topics, such as, coping with boom and bust cycles, specifics of mining communities, First Nation employment, women in mining, family life and private relationships, income management and career development.

Authors: Gertrude Saxinger and Susanna Gartler

Publishers: First Nation of Nacho Nyäk Dun / ReSDA – Resources and Sustainable Development in the Arctic / Yukon College